Genny

Italian brand of ready-to-wear. It made its début in 1961. At the beginning, it offered skirts and blouses, the basic elements of a wardrobe, which Arnaldo Girombelli would produce under the Genny brand as a complement to the Collections on sale in his boutique in Ancona. It was artisanal production, greatly appreciated by his clients, so that in 1976 he hired a very young Donatella Ronchi as style coordinator: she would become his wife and, on his death in 1980, take over his position as head of the company. A forerunner of the Made in Italy movement and of its winning formula — a wise mix of fashion, industry, and attention to the public taste — in 1968 Girombelli opened his first plant for the production of quality tailoring. The staff consisted of one hundred people. In 1973 he began to work with Gianni Versace, an emerging designer who arrived first in Florence, and then in Milan, from his native Reggio Calabria. It was a partnership which would last until the 1990s. Besides Genny, Versace would at his début also design the youth line Byblos and the Complice Collection, started in 1975. The cooperation with designers and the openness to emerging talents, with their differences in origin and vocation — including Claude Montana, Keith Varty, Alan Cleaver, Dolce & Gabbana, Christian Lacroix, Rebecca Moses, John Bartlett, Richard Tyler, and Josephus Thimister — was the winning card for the firm, which in 1987 becames financial holding company, emphasizing its international orientation. Since her husband’s passing, Donatella Girombelli has been the soul of the group: in addition to corporate strategies (she is president of the holding company), she decides the style choices, especially for the Genny Collections, in tune with the transformations of society and changes in the role of women. After the strong and super-feminine style of the 1980s, after a more conceptual fashion in the 1990s, it was the moment to search for an equilibrium between luxury and simplicity. “Purist-modernist, classic and bright, and very Italian,” is how Donatella (now assisted by her son Leonardo) loves to define the Genny of the year 2000.
Preliminary agreement for the acquisition of Genny by Prada, which guarantees the present level of employment. Donatella Girombelli, president of Genny since 1980, says about the decision: “It was the best choice for our Group. The worldwide competition in the luxury sector today requires larger size in order to compete at a high level. The company’s future will certainly be a better one, thanks to the combination with an important and fast-growing group such as Prada.” Donatella Girombelli and her son Leonardo are to keep their positions in the new company.
The début of Francisco Rosaf, age 37, the new designer of Genny. He revitalizes the tradition of lacework, which has always been important in the brand’s history, and which returns in the form of a printed pattern on fabrics together with colored flowers.
The three-year plan for the brand’s relaunch, planned by Prada Holding after the company’s acquisition in 2001, is on schedule. Genny closes 2002 with sales of €20 million, of which €2 million come from the men’s line. The company aims for a selection at retail, while continuing to focus the economic effort on product quality.
Prada Holding, the owner of the brand, decides to suspend production. The last season is Autumn-Winter 2004-2005.